Some Things Never Change

Well, friends, after a little hiatus, I am back in action! It was nice to take a little break from the blog for a bit, but I realized that 1) I miss writing, 2) I miss sharing, 3) I miss connecting. So I'm back and really excited!

After a long month is Czech Republic, Poland, and a stint in Missouri, I am now in Michigan (only for two weeks) reconnecting with family and friends. And while I have lots of European stories and pictures, what I'd really like to talk about is this guy-

I've talked about him before, and I'm about to talk about him again. Why? Well because he is awesome, easy on the eyes, and I had the honorable pleasure of seeing his chiseled cheekbones on Monday. The conversation leading up to the epic reunion went a little something like this-

Y: "Denny."

D: "Laney."

Y: "Let's play."

D: "Okay. When?"

Y: "Now."

D: "Yes."

Denny and I don't make plans. We just make things happen. Like the first time we hung out; we had only known each other for a few days (we met at work), and I'm not sure we even liked each other.  I was a weird hippie dressed in the latest vintage dress scored from Salvation Army talking about local music and local food, and Denny was well-groomed, dressed in Express collared shirts talking about the new Katy Perry song and Burger King. So I'm not sure how we ended up on the shores of Lake Michigan, on a Saturday, just the two of us with a 12-pack in hand...but it happened.

And then we somehow ended up in Toronto where I realized that I had left my only pair of jeans at Denny's place and, therefore, had no pants (except for the 10 year old sweatpants I wore during the car ride) to wear. And when he graciously offered me a pair of his jeans (he brought 3 pairs with him...go figure), I knew that we'd be friends for life. 

Wearing Denny's jeans.

I tried to convince him that the jeans looked much better on me than on him (which clearly they do!) and he should let me keep them. But he wasn't having any of it. I forgave him when he took me to Niagara Falls.

Showing off his Spartan pride!

And because no one got murdered or seriously injured on our Canadian trip, a few short months later we found ourselves at the airport.....

...on our way to Key West! And aside from a few kinks (like a missed flight, an unexpected night in North Carolina, and a grumpy "on the verge of a panic attack" Denny) we had an awesome time experiencing the best of Key West, like...

Clothing optional bars...yes, we went in. No, we did not take our clothes off.

Cardboard cutouts.

Playing footsie while Denny freaks out about being so high up in the air.

So it's only natural that when I saw Denny for the first time in 6 months on Monday, we attacked each other with bear hugs and went to the bar, at 3pm, to talk about love, life, and the fact that we should go to San Francisco because it's awesome and we are the best travel partners. And there might have been a few "I love you's", "I've missed you's", and " I can't believe you're here's"involved. Cute. I know.

Multiple drinks later, we were making friends with foreign exchange students sitting next to us talking about how girls in England are "easier" than girls in America because in America you actually need to have a conversation with the girl before taking her home.  I then told the bartender that he had a beautiful face, he gave us free margaritas, I gave the exchange students a piece of my mind, and we moved on to the next bar. Five bars later, we ended up at a nightclub during "Industrial Night"....

D: "I want to hear Adele."

Y: "You should go ask the DJ if he could set fire to the rain." (jokingly)

D: (approaches DJ) "Ummm...excuse me sir.....do you think you can set fire to the rain?"

DJ: "No. Absolutely not."

Y: (starts laughing hysterically) "Come on Denny. Let's dance."

D: "Why is there a girl walking around in her bra and underwear?"

Y: "I don't know. Maybe it's "Industrial?""

D: "What does that even mean?"

Y: "I think we need another drink."

After picking up a pizza, we stumble our way back to Denny's place. I find my MacBook. And Photobooth. And the following morning I discovered these:

The next morning:

D: (stumbles out of his room and crawls on the couch with me...which is clearly not large enough for the two of us) "UUGGGHH...I don't feel good."

Y: "Get off the couch! You're suffocating me!"

D: "Ouch. You're talking too loud. My face hurts. My knee hurts. Did we fall last night?"

Y: "I don't think so...."

D: "What actually happened last night?"

Y: " You asked the DJ to set fire to the rain. I told the bartender he had a beautiful face. You know, the usual."

D: "I need some water."

Y: "I need a Bloody Mary."

D: "I need some water, and a Bloody Mary."

Y: "I need coffee."

D: "I need food. Greasy food."

Y: "Yes. Let's go."

D: (singing) "Don't forget me! I beg! I remember you said, sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead."

Y: (singing) "If you ever leave me baby! Leave some morphine at my door!"

D: "Where are we going?"

Y: "Somewhere where there's coffee. And greasy food. And possibly, Bloody Mary's"

D: "Ummm...let's keep it classy and go to McDonalds."

Y: "Only for you, Denny. Only for you..."

Yup. Some things never change. And in this case, I like it. Love it, in fact. Almost as much as I love that boy...especially when we have drunken conversations like this-

D: "Do you think I can be your best man at your wedding?"

Y: "You can be my 'Man of Honor'....wait, when am I getting married?"

D: "Oh, you know....sometime..."

Y: "I don't know about that."

D: "Well, why not?"

Y: "I have to stay in one place long enough for someone to actually get to know me. I don't do that. You know this."

D: "You're gonna run forever?"

Y: "I don't know."

D: "So....if we're both 40 and single, would you marry me?"

Y: "Are you proposing to me?"

D: "This is weird."

Y: "I love awkward situations."

D: "You're weird."

Y: "Precisely why I probably won't ever get married."

D: "Why is that old lady staring at us?"

Y: "Probably because I just spilled my beer all over myself."

D: "Typical."

Y: "Don't even go there."

D: "I missed you."

Y: "I missed you too."

D: "So what happened with that guy?"

Y: "I ran."

D: "Typical."

Y: "Yup."

D: "You're never gonna get married."

Y: "I need another drink."

D: "Wait, why are we talking about marriage?"

Y: "I don't know. You brought it up."

D: "I need another drink."

Y: "Two more Two Hearted's please!"

Blunt. Honest. Complete Nonsense. A friendship made in heaven.